Liaison Dangereuse, a German online lingerie store, recently released a new video advertisement.  With Arabic-sounding music in the background, a woman is shown getting out of the shower (we can see, from the back, that she has no clothes on), putting on her make-up, then walking (wearing nothing but high heels–to each her own, I […]

There’s a new government-sponsored comedy channel in Egypt, Nile Comedy TV, which has created a humorous series of “non-commercial breaks.” One memorable example that made me laugh went like this: Buy the Chinese sheep! It weighs 12 kg when alive, and 55 kg after being slaughtered. It’s fed on a diet of chips, so you […]

When a woman says, “My guardian knows what’s best for me,” what should we do? Earlier this month, blogger Eman Al Nafjan posted her feelings about a new campaign in Saudi Arabia. The campaign, which began last month, is called “My guardian knows what’s best for me” and aims to gather one million signatures in […]

A recent anti-discrimination campaign in the Netherlands is using a poster of a hijabi, whose face is hidden behind the photo of a non-hijabi, as part of an advertising campaign to fight discrimination. The poster appears at bus stops, and says “Do you have to let yourself at home when going out?” At first, I […]

This was written by Alexandra Sandels and originally appeared on Menassat. A billboard advertisement calling on women to “Be Beautiful and Vote” in the upcoming Lebanese parliamentary elections has caused a fury among women’s rights activists in the country, who are denouncing the ad as sexist and offensive. In response, one group of activists launched […]

This was written by Youssef Rakha and originally appeared in The National. “Happy Mother’s Day! Happy Mother’s Day, Mama,” the woman spewed forth, her face taking up far too much of my TV screen. “Thanks so much for breast-feeding me for so long.” The woman was too emphatically ordinary to be convincing as a representative […]

For those who don’t know, CityStars mall in Cairo was the biggest mall in the Middle East until it was surpassed by Dubai Mall in November 2008. Nevertheless, it’s still a huge mall, with (according to their website) over 550 stores, 6,000 parking spaces, three hotels, two indoor theme parks, and a 21-screen cinema complex. Over […]

There is an interesting new public service announcement campaign being produced in Saudi Arabia and shown across the Middle East, drawing attention to the abuse that many migrant domestic workers face, and emphasising Islamic traditions of mercy in calling for a change of attitude. (Okay, it’s not that new anymore, but we haven’t covered it […]

I admit, the title put me off a little. Princess Hijab? But when I looked through her flicker albums, I was blown away. Princess Hijab is an anonymous 20-year-old guerilla street artist based in Paris, who began her “noble cause” of “hijab-ising” advertisements in 2006. She does this by using spray paint and a black […]

Sexual harassment is a problem that affects women in all societies. Muslim societies are no exception. Where there is patriarchy, there will be sexual harassment. In both Muslim and non-Muslim societies, the “solution” to sexual harassment has always fallen on women. “Don’t dress in revealing clothes, don’t flirt, don’t stay out alone, etc.” Even at […]